Fabrice Aidan in Paris, November 15, 2018. BERTRAND RINDOFF PETROFF/GETTY IMAGES/ LE MONDE
Discussing the case provoked anxious glances and a pervasive worry: Who would be the next diplomats implicated? How deeply would the foreign ministry be tarnished by the French connections to the Epstein scandal? Should there be a purge to put an end to the culture of secrecy that has long allowed the ministry to hide its officials' misconduct in order to protect France's image? The foreign ministry has been in turmoil since Tuesday, February 10, when Radio France and Mediapart revealed the links between diplomat Fabrice Aidan and Jeffrey Epstein, the American sex offender convicted as early as 2008 for "soliciting prostitution from a minor" and found dead in his jail cell in 2019.
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Epstein's correspondence reveals links to French public figures
The Trump administration's release of millions of documents from the Epstein case on January 30 brought to light exchanges between the French diplomat, stationed in New York at the United Nations, and the American sex offender. The emails made public did not appear to establish a direct link between the civil servant, who currently works in the private sector, and the billionaire's sexual crimes. But they did reveal a close relationship between the two men, dating back to 2010, according to US Department of Justice documents.
